JEREMY CORBYN has claimed the Labour Party is facing greater media hostility than ever, while simultaneously denying his leadership is under threat amid a recent barrage of criticism.

The Labour leader was speaking at an event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) on Monday night with controversial Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis, who served as the Greek finance minister from January to July 2015.

Mr Corbyn and Mr Varoufakis had earlier discussed a range of political and economic issues in a sold-out event titled “The Resurgence of Socialism".

At the EIBF event on Monday evening, Mr Varoufakis opened by asking Mr Corbyn about recent pressures on his leadership, to which Mr Corbyn said: “I’m absolutely fine.

“There are pressures, of course, and there are abusive remarks that are made, but real pressure is when you can't feed your children, real pressure is when you're about to lose your home or working in an understaffed hospital.

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“Political representatives have to absorb a lot of pressure but you've got to recognise real-life pressure that lots of people are under in a system that is grotesquely unfair.”

During the event, an audience member quizzed Mr Corbyn on whether he was getting closer to power.

Mr Corbyn said: “Labour has more members than we've ever had before, more activists than we've ever had before.

“We have greater hostility from the mainstream media than we've probably ever had before but I think we are in a strong position to keep people united around the agenda we put forward on social justice transformation, challenging and ending inequality in Britain and giving people hope of what can be achieved.”

Mr Corbyn and Mr Varoufakis appeared to be good friends at the Edinburgh International Book Festival (Image: GETTY)

The Labour leader and MP for Islington North added: “I think we have to have the confidence that we can deal with poverty, with unemployment, we can do better in the future, we can have a sustainable life for all of us and we can work together with others around the world who think the same.

“Our unity of purpose, of people - all over the world - is something that I think is getting stronger.

“Don't be undermined by those who want to divide us, unite together around the kind of world we could create.

“We had a sniff of that in the last General Election.

“I wish to God we had won the General Election, I did everything I personally could to make sure we won that General Election, but I tell you what - next time we're going to do it even better and even bigger and what's more we're going to win it.”

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Mr Varoufakis was Greek finance minster in 2015 and has held a series of discussions at the EIBF.

The economist and academic politician blasted the European Union on Monday’s Today programme on BBC Radio 4 for forcing a bailout on Greece to save German and French banks caught up in the 2008 financial crisis.

He suggested the EU “foisted the so-called bailout” on Greece to salvage its own economic interests.

Greece successfully emerged from a three-year bailout programme with the EU after borrowing an emergency £55billion loan to tackle its debt crisis.

Hollywood superstar Sir Patrick Stewart recently said he had ditched the Labour Party after almost 73 years of support, revealing his decision was because of Jeremy Corbyn’s poor leadership on Brexit.

Speaking to pro-EU publication The New European, he said: “I think I will vote Green next time around as they have got it right about Brexit and other issues that should concern us all, such as climate change.”